College diploma or trade certificate recipients can expect a 10 to 12 percent increase in weekly earning than those without a high school diploma. Those with a bachelor’s degree can expect a 21 percent increase (Taylor, 2007). However, many highly educated youth fail to find jobs that match their education and experience and many are underemployed in terms of having jobs that have requirements well below these graduates’ credentials (Heinz and Taylor, 2005; Jarvis, 2001).

Initially, school-to-work programming in Canada focussed on those students who would leave high school prior to graduating or those who would graduate from high school and enter the labour market directly. While both non- and high school graduates remain the focus of this programming today, the notion of school-to-work transitions has expanded to include postsecondary school-to-work transitions as well. School-to-work programming is now developed broadly and aimed at all youth and young adults taking into account a wide variety of career paths. The Youth in Transitions Survey (2000) defined school-to-work transitions as pathways where youth:

• Enter post-secondary education,
• Make post-secondary program and level changes,
• Leave post-secondary schooling (through graduation or dropping out),
• Enter the labour market,
• Obtain a first job after leaving full-time schooling,
• Make changes within and between jobs, and
• Participate in activities during spells when not working and not in full-time schooling (Youth in Transitions Survey, 2000).

The evolution in and diversification of school-to-work transition policies and programming is due, in part, to the increasing amount of time it takes young people to make the transition to full-time work. There are a few reasons why the school-to-work journey takes longer today than a generation ago. These reasons reflect both global changes in the labour market and Canada’s response to youth school-to-work transitions:

• In the knowledge economy, increasing requirements in both technical and employability skills for most occupations require youth to stay learning longer prior to moving to full-time work.
  
  The current Canadian school attendance rate for 15- to 19-year-olds is almost 85%. This rate has increased markedly from just 25 years earlier when only two-thirds of 15- to 19-year-olds were in school. Educational attainment is growing in most of the economically-developed countries as more young people complete high school and postsecondary education (CLC, 2005). In 2001, almost 21% of the 25 to 34 age group had attained a college diploma and almost 28% had obtained a university degree (Census, 2001). Research indicates that one extra year of schooling leads to a 12.3% higher annual income, increases the likelihood of working full-time and decreases the likelihood of being unemployed, below the low income cut-off or working in manual labour (Oreopoulous, May 2005). Youth have recognized the benefits of staying-in-school as a way of facilitating entry into the labour market.
  
  While staying in school has benefits in terms of employment rate, research indicates that education does not necessarily guarantee access to skilled, well paying jobs in one’s field. One third of Canadians 25-29 year-olds with PSE diploma or degree have a low-skill job which is the highest ratio among OECD countries (Saunders and de Brouker, 2007).